MovieChat Forums > Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002) Discussion > Where Was Everybody?????????

Where Was Everybody?????????

posted 20 years ago by Ambiance35
9 replies | jump to latest

In all the exterior shots it seems that not once did we get to see any of the other neighbours either washing their cars,or tending to their gardens or even enjoying a good old British gossip (like normal people tend to do in typical suburban streets-Mine included!) & even the pavements themselves seemed to be devoid of even the most innocuous of pedestrians! Anybody else notice that?
Was the director Shane Meadows trying to make a statement about the anonymity of the suburbs do you think or could the film just not afford any extras?!

[–] JoJo900 20 years ago

I didn't noteice that til you mentioned it. You'd think people would come out to have a gawk at least when Carol was smashing up Dek's 'baby' with a baseball bat!!!

[–] davetong 20 years ago

I doubt it was a question of not wanting to pay extras.
There are two obvious explanations. One is continuity;
you don't want people jumping back and forth in the
background between shots, it's distracting.

But the explanation I prefer is that in a Western
when the protagonists head into town the streets
are usually clear of bystanders who don't want to
get caught up in the fights.

Incidentally, how is it that, though hardly anyone
in the UK plays baseball, when there's violence to be
had everyone seems to be able to lay their hands on one.
You hardly ever see anyone smash the place up with a
cricket bat (except for in Spinal Tap of course).

[–] Ambiance35 20 years ago

Thanks for answering my question & yes I also like the explanation of a typical western scene with the protagonists entering town.It all now seems rather obvious & you can almost imagine the nosy neighbours indoors twitching their net curtains!
As for "getting your hands on a baseball bat" at a moment's notice here in the UK well that does appear to be largely a "celluloid myth" (think bad gangster films) as yes it is true that baseball as a sport is very much of a rarity here.
Next time I am having a dispute with a neighbour in my "typical quiet north England suburban street" & decide to start coshing their car (as you do!) I shall have neither a baseball bat nor a cricket bat to hand & shall have to raid the garage for my tried & trusted old tennis racket instead-It's hardly "Wimbledon here I come" but it is still better than nothing I suppose!!!!!!!!!!!!

[–] stephenrussell 19 years ago

Regarding the baseball bat issue, the following is from an article in the National Review by British doctor Theodore Dalrymple.

"Casual violence is now woven into the fabric British life. No baseball is played in Britain, and it is all but impossible to buy a baseball here, but sales of baseball bats are extremely strong, as weapons against one's neighbors. Whenever a young man tells me that he has suffered a head injury such as a fractured skull, I ask, "Baseball bat?" to which the answer, nine times out of ten, is yes."

(http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_25_54/ai_95612956)

[–] sjwcrap 18 years ago

It wasn't a baseball bat it was a pick-axe handle.

[–] magnumco 18 years ago

Same thing!

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] UN_Jefferson 16 years ago

I agree, it was odd and off-putting. Like they were living in some post apocalyptical world, like a neutron bomb had went off and nobody was left in the neighborhood.

[–] YourSock 13 years ago

I thought the lack of people on the streets was a reflection on the state of their lives. Remember the bingo and bar, packed with people.

Have you tried smashing things with a cricket bat, they BREAK easily.